


Time Heals All Wounds

by cleopatra1111



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU: X-men, Multi, Mutant-verse, No x-men characters, basically they have powers, getting used to things in the modern world, people from the past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-21 02:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1533560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleopatra1111/pseuds/cleopatra1111
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Up until that moment, you think it had been a pretty normal day] </p><p>Karkat comes home one day to discover four strangely dressed teenagers in his house, completely unused to this strange and modern new world, and one way or another he naturally ends up looking after them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Wow Homestuck? Who even reads that anymore? I do. It's great.
> 
> This is sort of like an X-Men universe, but with none of the X-Men characters, but you know. I just went with it. 
> 
> Also excuse the names I gave to them, I really didn't know what else to write, and they're not gonna last long.  
> Anyway, please tell me what you think, and if you're interested! Chapter 1 should be up soon.

Smoke.

The most distinct memory Dave had of this day was the overwhelming floods of smoke that filled the air. The musky, awful smell of it bled into his nose and mouth and even his eyes, until he began to feel light-headed.

It was hot too. Much too hot for either him or his companions and it surrounded them entirely like some terrible blanket. Something about all of this tugged at Dave’s mind, but he was bleary-eyed from the smoke and could barely even think. Someone was shouting loudly, and then more people began to yell and soon it was as if the entire village had gathered to this very place. The noise grew stronger and Dave’s ears began to buzz and his head throbbed like it had been cracked in two pieces.

“David Strider,” a booming voice proclaimed, and the people seemed to quieten down. When Dave attempted to turn and face his addressor, he found he was lodged in place by some kind of rope, and ended up painfully jutting his head sideways at a strange angle.

“David Strider, Jonathan Egbert, Rosaline Lalonde and Jadeanna Harley, do you all know why you are here today?” At this Dave suddenly remembered he was not alone; three others that, although he couldn’t see, he could still feel through each of their linked hands behind him. They kept silent while the raucous began again and the villagers answered the question in disjointed shouts, “It’s witchcraft!” One of them screamed, and another replied, “Yes! I saw one of them flying just yesterday!” More shouts followed, “He turned my sister into a newt!” “She killed my dog so she could use the tail for dark arts!” “They sent the storm which killed the crops last spring!” With excruciating delight, each villager recounted his or her own versions and accusations, while Dave grew rapidly hotter, and painfully more uncomfortable.

“That’s right!” Said the loud voice, and the people quietened again. Dave recognised the voice to be that of the Pastor. He had been the leader of this town for centuries, leading both religious and agricultural work throughout the large province. Dave remembered him to be a very pious, but strict man, who took great pride in keeping his people on the right path. “We are here, because we have recognised that these four members of our community have done a great wrong!” And he also, Dave remembered sullenly, took great pride in punishing those who committed sin.

“Do the people agree that they have gone against the word of God by performing witchcraft in our town?” He asked, and the townspeople screamed heartily their affirmation. “Do the people agree that they have put the town in great peril by delving into dark arts and offering beastly temptation unto all of us?” He asked again, and then immediately continued, “Do the people agree,” he said, “That these four have danced the terrible dance with the devil, have been touched by his malice, and can no longer be accepted in this here town of ours?” The villagers were now absolutely hysterical, and some had even started throwing small rocks and sticks they had picked up off the ground, while the enormous ‘yes’ boomed around the dark sky.

“It is clear to me what must be done,” the Pastor said, and Dave's heart thrummed loudly in his chest. It was too loud for him, echoing in his ears and he surely would not have heard the Pastor’s next words were they not said so furiously, and so venomously. It was as if the Pastor had forgotten that he had practically raised these children, for they were of his flock, and he was instead extracting some poisonous parasite.

“They must be cast out!” He screamed, and this seemed to be the cue for action. The townsfolk all rushed forward towards them, some throwing logs, and other lighting thin parchment, and spreading the flames. Dave’s very family and friends all joyfully jumped and danced while he watched the fire grow through his bleary eyes. They hurt so much, that he when he closed them, fresh new tears of pain streaked down his red cheeks, as if bleeding from an open wound. But it did not hurt as much as hearing the faint whimpering from the three beside him.

This couldn’t be it. They couldn’t die like this! It was at this point that Dave started to panic, to really panic. The hand he held on his right, small and calloused, was squeezed around his so tightly that he was starting to lose feeling in it. But the other hand, the slender soft hand that he knew so well, that held him when he had nightmares, and stroked his hair as he fell back asleep, the hand was slipping slowly out of his grasp. The panic grew and suddenly all Dave could see was the four of them, together and happy. It was one memory, of when they were very young and knew very little about prejudice or religion, and they were all so overwhelmingly happy. Dave was happy. He couldn’t let them die without feeling that again, he had to do something!

He gathered up both hands and held them tight, and hoped the fourth companion was still awake on the other side. The heat was rising quickly – too quickly! Dave had to move fast, and time was sorely running out. The hand on his left was now sagging entirely, and all effort of holding on was gone, the pulse growing fainter and fainter by the second.

Dave did the only thing he could think to do. He vanished.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's short. others will be longer hopefully, but then again, it's only been a day (:

Up until that moment, you think it had been a pretty normal day.

Actually, scratch that, it hadn't been normal at all. Terezi had been acting really cagey about seeing you recently, and for some reason was spending an exceedingly large amount of time with her (ex-) friend Vriska. You don’t know why because you spent every waking moment after 9th grade listening to hours of relentless bitching about this other girl, and you are certain the other girl bitched a whole lot about Terezi too. It made little sense at the time but you listened anyway, because you are fantastic like that. Recently has been different though, and today you saw her avoiding you in the lunch hall. You know she was avoiding you because you saw her peeking in your direction every so often. Then again, you find it hard to tell sometimes, what with her constantly wearing those red shades all the time. She bought them for herself a few weeks ago, and now she just wouldn't take them off! That’s when she started avoiding you, you suddenly realise. Maybe she’s different because of the shades. You growl internally when you think of the shades because they are really starting to frustrate you every time you see them.

You lose your train of thought because reminiscing is stupid and you’re stupid for standing in front of your door thinking about Terezi and her stupid red glasses all of a sudden. As you finally enter your house, you remind yourself the other ways in which it was a weird day. Not only was Terezi obviously avoiding you, but also, Sollux and Kanaya were very nervous all day around you today, and the conversations were stinted and dull. Now that you think about it, it was a very strange day after all, but it’s not like you knew what was going to happen later or anything. Not everyone is so fortunately omniscient. What you do know, is that you were so frustrated at the lack of goddamned supportive friends in school that you just walked out of there and went home straight after lunch. What’s even more surprising is that so far, no one has messaged you to find out what happened to you. Does no one care anymore? You are so confused and angry and upset that you slam the door very hard on your way in.

The house is empty as usual, so you just grab a bag of chips as you head to your room. Your dad is probably working late shifts at the bar again, so you can expect to be alone for a while. It makes you angry that he doesn’t ever have time to see you, and do normal dad things, like take you camping, or even help you with your homework sometimes, but you guess you understand that he works so much because otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford a lot of things, and that he does it for you essentially anyway. You think this while looking at one of your favourite romcoms, and you decide that this would be the perfect time to watch it. Homework can wait.

 

**[You have 1 new message!]**

But apparently your friends can’t. You breathe a sigh of relief at seeing that at least one of your friends has decided to message you on your whereabouts. Maybe they would even like to come over and watch your romcom with you.

 

**To: Karkat**

**From: Kanaya**

_Karkat There Seems To Have Been A Misfortunate Incident At The School Involving A Few People We Know After You Left And I Feel That It Would Be Best If You Called Me Back As Soon As You Can_

You stare at this message for a few seconds, letting the words sink in. Something weird really was happening – it wasn’t just your insecurities and paranoia! You were right! You stop yourself mid triumphant celebrations to remind yourself that you should probably call Kanaya and see what’s up.

“Yes?”

“Hey Kanaya. It’s me.”

“Karkat,” she says softly, and you can almost hear the smile on her face. She doesn’t sound too worried about anything, so it can’t be too bad, “You responded within minutes of my text message. I am very flattered at your dedication to answering my pleas,” she says in that familiar, snarky way of hers.

“It was a coincidence so don’t be flattered. I picked up the phone, saw a message and called, and if there’s any other better way to respond to such an extraordinary occurrence as a text message, please, be my guest and teach me the ways so that next time I won’t be such a fucking idiot about answering your texts.”

“Ok ok!” You hear a small, crackly laugh through the earpiece, and you can’t help but smile a little yourself. “But really Karkat, this is serious. After you left… there was a fire.”

Your heart gains a few pounds and drops into your stomach, and suddenly you don’t know what to think anymore. You have forgotten entirely that your friends were basically all douchebags today. “What?! What happened? Is everyone alright?”

Kanaya sighs, and for split second, you fear the worst, you are very scared that someone may have… “Yes, mostly everyone is alright. It was just during my PE period that the fire began somewhere in the languages department. It was small, and was put out quickly by a teacher, and nothing was too seriously burned. We are, however, relieved of school just for this week, to get everything back to order,” she let out a deep breath, “It was actually very terrifying, I must say, but only because everyone was running around hysterically instead of filing out silently like we are supposed to!” She huffed.

“Wait,” you reply slowly, “Kanaya, did you say _mostly_ everyone is alright?”

Here she hesitated, and it was so obvious then that something much worse had happened. You sat down, and after a good minute of silence, Kanaya continued, “Terezi’s in the hospital-“

“What?! Ok I’m heading over there right now, it’ll take me 20 minutes max, you should meet me there as soon as-“

“Karkat stop! Don’t come here!” She interrupted you, and there it was, that nervousness to her tone again, the one that you had been hearing all day, “I’m already here, and she’s absolutely fine. Just a few minor burns and such, she should be waking up fairly soon.”

“Kanaya, you can’t just expect me to sit at home while Terezi’s is in the hospital can you? I mean, why would you even call me about the fire in the first place? I’m coming over right now,” you say, standing up, and throwing on a jacket. You grab your wallet and keys, and you are ready to leave, but Kanaya relents.

“I simply wished to inform you! There is no reason for you to worry so much. I think you should stay at home for just a while, and then come visit her later. Don’t you think it would be best if Terezi received individual guests rather than a large bundle all at once? It would be far less overwhelming for her, right?” She said, rushing through her words that made her sound very unKanaya-like. It was disconcerting, and you didn’t like it, but you also trust her too much. And anyway, she’s kind of right. You just got home and you are rather tired, so you bid her farewell and hang up.

You glance down at the fallen DVD case, open and disk half removed. You’re definitely not going to watch it now though – you are much too worried. In fact, you find that you are so tense with it that you start pacing around the room, and when you realise you have absolutely nothing to do, you pick your keys up again and start to leave your room again. Screw Kanaya! You need to see Terezi and so you are going to do it! Kanaya’s plea unheeded, and filled with new purpose, you start jogging towards the front door, but not before you run into something with a mighty ‘oof’, and fall backwards to the floor.

Suddenly, voices are filling the silent air in your living room, and, winded, you can’t comprehend anything that’s happening. When you finally turn your head upwards, you are rewarded with a sight that you will probably never forget.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah sorry for the wait. I'm in the middle of my exam period, so the update times will probably be a bit wonky. 
> 
> Anyway, please, please, please give lots of constrictive criticism - I know I'm not the best at writing, so it really means a lot when people help out and stuff (:

“Come on Rose, you must wake up!"

“Mmm…. Ugh…”

“Dave, what’s happening?”

“Rose come on! Listen to my voice!”

“Where are we?”

“Yeah! What is this place? Why is it daytime?”

“Rose, please! You can’t die like this, keep breathing!”

These strange four people with the accents you have never heard before are quickly becoming much too loud for your liking. You start to feel a headache coming on. This is really not your day at all, what with teenagers using your house as some sort of hiding location?! Oh God, one of them is unconscious, and… is it just you or are their clothes smoking? What are they even wearing anyway, some sort of Pilgrim outfits? And what kind of god-awful criminals would hide in this part of town? There’s a police station right down the block for god’s sake!

They don’t seem to be noticing you at all, and so they are completely undeterred from their fussing and worrying. How did they even get in the house anyway? You are really starting to get angry now. Punching 911 into your phone’s keypad, you slowly stand up and hold it up for them to see, but to your chagrin they're still too concerned over their unconscious friend to notice you. 

“Excuse me ladies and douchebags,” you say. Suddenly, the three conscious kids turn to face you, and the concern is gone, replaced with absolute horror. They begin to all talk at once, but you are so not in the mood to infer words from their bizarre dialect that you just ‘shoosh’ slowly and continue, “As I was saying. I am really not having a very good day, and I would really appreciate it if I didn’t have to deal with such a colourful plethora of other kids who are evidently criminals or some shit like that, on top of already having to sit and listen to the people I call ‘friends’, wiping their asses on each other and bitching all day,” you stop because they look like they didn’t understand a word you just said, but at least they’ve quietened down, “So, let me tell you what’s going to happen. You are going to leave this house, quietly and without fuss, or I will call the police, who coincidentally happen to be 2 minutes away. It’s your choice.”

The stares never left your face, but there was still no response. You start to lift the phone again when one of them, the blonde boy, suddenly speaks, “No! You must help us! Our friend is in dire need of medical attention. Please, will you assist us in finding a doctor?” He looks at you very seriously, and for a second you are not entirely sure how to respond.

“Are you… are you deaf? Did you not hear any of what I just said? I don’t fucking care if your friend is dying or just really hung-over, I just want you out of my house!” You say, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks. Usually your shouting just annoys or intimidates people to go away, but they remained glued to their place, the slim blonde girl still lying unconscious on the floor. 

“Please. We cannot risk being here for too long. We promise that after you bring us a doctor, we will leave you. You can trust our word, friend,” he says, and although his face remains blank and collected, you can see the panic behind his eyes, and suddenly you feel pity for these bizarre people. Damn you and your empathy. 

“Fine, whatever, I’ll take you to the hospital,” you say, and the look of relief on their faces is enough to convince you, if you hadn’t been convinced already.   

The walk is long, and the paranoia of herding absolute strangers through the town still grips you. Though you have memorised the path and have walked this route too many times to count, it is as if the road stretches on and on. You keep silent; maybe you can pick up some of their story while they talk amongst themselves. The blonde one is carrying his slender companion on his back without saying a word, but the two darker haired ones are sounding more urgent by the minute. You find that you cannot interpret their furious whispering, but you can still guess from their bewildered and painfully confused expressions, that you will most likely be unable to gander any information from them. You’ve had to stop them from walking onto the road a few times, and every time a car drove by they seem to jump back nervously. You make a decision that when you have finished escorting them to the hospital, you will leave and hopefully never see them again. 

It’s getting late by the time you finally reach the bleach white building, and as the sunset stains the land pink, it fills you with such a tranquil feeling that you almost forget that your friend is lying in one of these rooms. Yet something still feels so disconcertingly off about this situation that you are not entirely settled. The three that are standing by are getting really antsy, but despite their nervousness growing more obvious by the second, they still do nothing, and stare at you expectantly instead. Finally the dark-haired boy takes a timid step forward and for the first time, actually addresses you.

“Kind sir. Please, why have we stopped here, at this strange white and very large structure? Is this where the medics are to be found?” He says, so sincerely, that you wonder if this guy is just a really dedicated role-player. What the fuck is his deal anyway?

Before you really start getting angry, you say, “Just follow me, and keep fucking quiet ok? I don’t need some goddamn 17th century bullshit dialect being spewed in through my ears all day, which might I add is actually really fucking crappy. I mean, where did you people learn to act anyway?” And then you take them to the ER, and get the unconscious-girl-slash-flighty-broad safely taken care of, into a nice, stiffly made hospital bed. Just before you’re about to leave, however, someone grabs your wrist.

It’s the blonde one. “You must stay. I understand that we are complete strangers, and I promise that I will explain the whole story, but at this very moment, we have no one. The only person we have yet talked to is you, and your tarnished and bizarre language notwithstanding, you seem trustworthy. So, please stay and help us.”

“Look flapjack. I’m going to ignore the fact that you just used the word ‘notwithstanding’ and look like a hobo at the same time to be really sincere for a sec. I don’t get at all what you people are supposed to be doing or anything, but let me just ask one question. Are you fugitives?”

Blondie looks horrified, brows knotted together and for a second he actually looks kind of vulnerable. But then, a blank look returns and he doesn’t even stutter when he replies, “No, of course not.”

“Fine,” you say begrudgingly, “I’ll help you or whatever. Just, let me visit my friend first. You guys can handle being alone for like twenty minutes, right?” Luckily, a nurse enters the room, and you take this as your cue to leave, but not before she says, “Oh dear, were you poor kids in that fire down at the school?” 

And for some reason, in a moment of panic, you just say, “Yes.” The whole room turns to look at you, the nurse sombre and with generic pity, and the other three… Well their expressions hadn’t really changed much over the past hour. “Yeah, the fire. It was pretty awful,” you say again, “I’m just going to visit my other friend now. She was,” you realize you’re digging yourself into the awkward silence of this room, so you just say, “Yeah,” and leave before you can embarrass yourself further. 

It takes you way too long to notice that you’re being followed. In fact, you’re just a few feet up the stairs before you hear the door to the stairway shut a second time. It’s one of them, you realise.

“What the fuck is your problem? I said I’d be back, didn’t I?”

It’s the darker haired one, and he scrabbles to get up to where you’re standing, and at the same time to find some viable excuse, “I know, of course,” he says, “Of course we trust you and everything it’s not that. I just,” he pauses, and it’s obvious he’s getting nervous again.

“Someone’s calling me and telling me to go with you,” he finally explains.

“Calling you? What the fuck? Have I stumbled into some weird reality drama prank show? Ok, show’s over, wow that was a great joke, now bring out the cameras and we can all laugh and laugh at how stupid I am, because I am evidently missing something here and it is certainly not my sense of humour.”

“I didn’t really understand any of that, but this isn’t any prank that I have made. You would know, because my pranks are really the best,” he says, smiling, and you can’t help but sigh and basically forget that this kid just gave premature signs of telepathic ability.

“Fine, come on. Just don’t say anything embarrassing to my friend, ok?”

Now he’s grinning and hops up to continue the walk up the stairs beside you. You sickeningly notice that he has a spring to his step. You really hate these types of people.

“Oh, by the way, my name is John.”

It’s a pretty normal sounding name, you think. Not a criminal’s name, but what do you know? “Karkat. And who were the others in your dreary little party?”

“My sister back there was Jade, and the other boy was Dave,” his smile wavers a little. “His sister is the one who was badly burned. Rose.”

“Oh yeah, how’d that happen by the way. You weren’t really at the school, were you?”

He suddenly looks really scared again, and you expect another blatantly empty excuse before his head snaps up and he looks around.

“The voice,” he says, as if he think that you’ll magically understand, “It’s calling me again. It sounds impatient.”

Ok, you decide this kid is a nutjob. But there’s nothing you can really do at the moment.

“We’re almost there. Terezi’s room is on this floor, according to my sadly third-hand sources, the receptionist. Why couldn’t have Kanaya just told me, I mean, it’s not like I wouldn’t have come just because she told me not to. What kind of a friend does she think I am, anyway?” 

You’re so far into your little rant that you don’t even notice that John has stopped, and you bump into him. He’s just standing in front of a room. Upon further inspection, you find that it’s Terezi’s room.

“How did you…” you say, but he’s already gone in, and all you can do is follow.

The sight before your ideas is definitely less than ideal.

“Man, that took so long! We were waiting for like ever, right? I mean, I get that you’re not used to big scary buildings John, but it’s not too much to handle for a big clever boy like you, right? Am I right Terezi?” There sits Vriska, with her long plait shaken rabidly out, and her thin smile curving up her sharp cheeks. You start to realise that if John and Vriska knew each other, then a lot of this would make sense, but when you look over at John he looks just as confused as you are. But, when you see Terezi, all fleeting emotions are lost, and you run over and hug her before the mood can be ruined with shitty explanations.

“Terezi, holy shit, are you ok? Kanaya told me not to come, but I’m pretty sure we both know that that was never going to happen. Did she tell you anything about that? And what about you? You’re able to hug me back, so that’s good right? Oh please don’t tell me you’re going to die. Oh god, oh god, Terezi please tell me you’re not going to die!”

“Karkat shut up already,” she says, giggling a bit, and before you even realise, you’re smiling back, and she’s ok! She’s not going to die and that’s all that matters. She’s still wearing those damn shades though. “I’m fine,” she continues, “It was the smoke that made me unconscious, and so everyone was worried but nothing too bad happened.”

“Ok good. Why is Vriska here?”

“Wow Karkat, always jumping straight the point. Why can’t we show a little respect to our visitor here? Look at him, he’s obviously been through a lot.”

They all glance over at John, and suddenly Karkat feels bad. He would hate being under both Terezi’s and Vriska’s famously intimidating grins.

“John, don’t worry. We have actually been expecting you!” Terezi smiles even wider, and you wonder if she’s already forgotten that she was in a fire. “Please, why don’t you tell us your sory first, and then if you have any questions for us, feel free to ask.”

He looks a bit plaintive, but still proceeds to talk. You are even a bit insulted that they would address his worries over yours, but then you realise that you are way too interested in his story for your own good.

“I shall tell you,” he says, in his strangely opulent manner, “despite the fact that you are strangers, and I should really be trusting no one right now. But I shall tell you because I don’t think I have anything left to be afraid for. This day was not going so well for us; the four of us I mean. The rest of our town had been growing more and more wary of us, and that night, without warning, we were taken. We had been hoping for a trial, because then we could have at least had a chance for some sort of explanation, but we were not so lucky. That night… well, it was actually not so long ago really, while we slept, we were taken and were going to be burned for witchcraft. I honestly thought we were going to die then, but suddenly, it was day, and Rose was lying still, and Jade was shouting at Dave, and it was all so confusing! I assure you, I have no idea what happened or how, or what lies ahead on our paths now! I fear that we may never return to our people again.” 

As John finished his story, you are filled with too many more questions for him, but now that he’s started talking, it seems that he wants to continue. 

“Please! Help us! You say you have been expecting us, but how? Are you of our kind? It would mean everything to us if we still had kin in this world!” John is almost yelling now, frantically scrambling to take Vriska’s hand and holding it like some Shakespearean actor. 

For the first time in your life, Vriska is visibly shaken, and something happens that you could never have imagined. She looks at John, and he looks back, and after a few moments he calms down. 

“Ok, ok. Great, some weird, silent communication is taking place here that I am not aware of, and someone needs to explain this to me, or I swear to God, I will flip my shit here, right now.”

Vriska regains her composure, “Yeah Karkat, we are all so afraid that you will get angry at us. It will be the worst regret of my life that you were unhappy in my presence, because, as you know, it is my main priority in life to keep you grinning and hopping like a cute little bird,” she says.

“Quieten down everyone,” Terezi says. You don’t like it at all that she’s not smiling. “I think it’s about time for me to explain everything to you, Karkat.”

“Yeah it’s about fucking time.”

You expect her to say something, but instead, she takes off her shades, and behind them, two scarlet red eyes stare back at you. 

“What the fuck Terezi? Why are your eyes red? Like, it’s not even the irises, it's the whole damn thing, can you even see?” 

“Yeah, I can still see, but it’s not like I can go around showing everyone my fancy, new red eyes right?” She hesitates slightly, but continues nonetheless, “It started about half a year ago. At first it was just my dreams. There would just be scenarios, completely normal everyday scenes like school or shopping or something. It took me a while to realise that in these dreams, things were happening that would happen the next day. Do you remember our class trip to New York for a few days, and you made fun of me for bringing an umbrella because it was so sunny, and the weather forecast predicted clear skies for the whole week?”

You solemnly nod.

“Yeah well, that’s because I knew it was going to rain. It started out like that, but it got worse. The dreams were becoming really vivid, and then it wasn’t even my dreams anymore, but little snippets of them during the day. Sometimes during class or even during a conversation I would just zone out, and see some random scenario that would then happen a minute later. This is my secret Karkat. I can see the future.”

“Is this why you’ve been avoiding me? Because you can fucking see the future? That’s the most inane reason I’ve ever heard in my life, that is like the best secret I’ve ever heard, and if you’d told me earlier I would have been totally on board.” 

“I’m glad you said that Karkat, but do you not get what this means? I’m a mutant!”

“A mutant…? I didn’t even think mutants existed.”

Terezi looks painfully tired, and you immediately regret saying that. 

“Yeah, I didn’t think so too, but when it started happening, I started to see it happen with other people too. Apparently, the mutant gene starts to show itself during adolescence, so it’s basically happening to everyone at the same time. I didn’t really want to get you involved.” 

“So… Vriska?” You look over at her, and she displays one of her infamously pouty sighs, uncrosses her arms and smiles wanly at you. “X-Ray Vision. It’s great, I know. Also a little telepathy, but not enough to read your mind, just to communicate with you. That’s how I called John here.” 

At the mention of his name, he starts a little. You’ve almost forgotten he was even here.

“So John,” Terezi says, “tell me, what’s the date today?” 

He looks a little perturbed, but says much too confidently, “15th September, 1650.” 

The silence that follows is enough to make his expression waver, “That’s not the date, is it.”

“No sweetie,” Vriska is the one to respond this time, “The date is right, but this is the year 2014. Certainly a weird time skip if I’m being honest. If it were up to me I would have gone straight to 2038. 88 years would have been very poetic and meaningful. But I guess this whole thing does explain the wacky wardrobe issue you have going on. John, we really have a lot to teach you about modern fashion.”

That was a… surprisingly nice thing of Vriska to say, however weirdly phrased it was. John, however, is not convinced.

“It can’t be 2014! None of us can time travel - that would be impossible, I assure you.”

Terezi at this point begins to look a bit sad. “Dave didn’t tell you yet, did he?” she says, “I can’t believe you guys spent this long here without wondering which of you guys can time travel. What did you even talk about?”

“Dave?! He was the only one of us who was normal! I was distraught for that hour, feeling terrible that we had dragged him into this mess with us! He was going to become Pastor, you know, after our current Pastor passed. Why didn’t he ever tell us? What are we even going to do?” 

Terezi shuffles around awkwardly in her paper-thin sheets, “Well, I guess it’s up to you guys to decide, but it looks to me like you’re going to have to learn to live in this time.”

John immediately looks grief-stricken. 

“Well it’s not like you could go back, right?” She says a little defensively, “Also, I can see the future, remember?” She looks at you again, and you can tell that you’re not going to like what she’s about to say.

“Karkat, you’re going to have to be the one to look after them, ok?” 

“Excuse me? Why do I have to be the one to get stuck with four fucking Pilgrim mutants? Don’t you think they’d be better off with, oh I don't know, other mutants? Do you really believe that they’re going to have just a swell time at Casa Vantas, or have you just gone batshit crazy? I can’t look after other human beings, what’s wrong with you?”

“It has to be you Karkat. I saw it in my vision. It has to happen this way!”

You don’t remember much of the ensuing argument with Terezi, or really whatever happened afterwards, but one way or another, you somehow end up getting stuck with these four kids. You just know that it’s going to be a disaster.

 


	4. Jade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back. I know I'm terrible, sorry.  
> Anyway, a few important points, 
> 
> Story structure: Plot is basically all done, and I eventually decided to have each chapter be focused around one character (I know the structure is going off the rails a little, and it's really awful, so I'm sorry for being jumpy with it in the beginning, but it'll be generally the same from this point). Anyway, why I did this, was because I really want to explore individual emotions, and/or character's relation to other characters. Though I'm not literately strong in this sense, I'll give it my best attempt. 
> 
> BETA: I really am in desperate need of a beta!! Anyone who has a keen eye for spelling errors + is not afraid to give lots of criticism, please inbox me!! Working on a few other things rn and I really need someone who can tell me all the things I am doing wrong hahaa
> 
> Suggestions: As I've mentioned, ideas area always welcome. Specifically the ones for mutant powers, I would like to keep them biologically accurate (even though this is disregarded in even the actual Marvel universe). I mean, maybe it's just me, but mutant powers have always been something that can be explained by science and that I understand.  
> Maybe it's just me...
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! PLEASE criticize and comment, I really need the help.  
> And prospective betas, please inbox me ~uvu~

Jade stared at the words on the page, but saw only lines of randomly connected lines, all connected in rows and rows for pages on end. Some letters she recognised now; the ‘i’s and the ‘h’s, because they were relatively individual, but she couldn’t for the life of her tell the difference between the ‘m’s and ‘w’s, and she always got ‘t’s and ‘l’s mixed up. 

“I go lo…” she hesitated, “I go to! I go to the park… with my fry… My friend.” She stopped for a second and took a deep breath. “My friend has bluey… blue ey… eiyess? Iyes… eyes! Blue eyes and blondy… blonde…” Here she stopped, “Karkat, what does blonde mean?”

The boy sitting across the room on his bed looked up from his own book, looking altogether much too preoccupied for any sort of conversation. In any case, after rolling his eyes he answered, “It’s the colour of someone’s hair… like yellow. Like Dave’s hair or Rose’s hair. They’re blonde.” 

He went back to his book as if that were an adequate answer, and maybe it was, but Jade still felt in the dark about this word… “blonde”.

She didn’t think too much about it, however, because over the past few days she had encountered so many new and foreign words that she couldn’t even remember the majority of them 5 minutes later. She knew, with a deep ache that she would eventually have to learn them all to fit in, in this new world she had been thrust into. 

She, John and Dave had already discussed the implications of what had happened, and although she was happy to have escaped the witch trial, she ultimately understood that the four of them would never be able to go back home. If they did, the villagers would only have all the more reason to execute them. 

Still, it was at times like these, as she stared at this book, which she could only assume was meant for small children, that she felt severely homesick. Where was her hometown, with the smooth cobbled streets and thatched houses? And her tiny bedroom above the bakery with Thompson the old baker? She missed her little garden behind the house, and she missed the look on Thompson’s face when she presented him with her fresh produce… Pride. 

Where was this pride now? She felt so humiliated, having to learn this skill, having to learn to read, which was apparently so important here that even toddlers could do it. 

Jade felt a sob welling deep in her throat, but then glanced over to the boys, sitting opposite her. Dave was writing out lines – maybe some text that he had been made to memorize. His handwriting was loopy and elegant. John, however, was holding a thin book in his hands, like Jade’s own book. 

His brow was furrowed in concentration, and his eyes were slowly scanning the words, even attempting to write some of them out on his own. The words were badly written, with some letters weirdly triangular and scratchy. She wasn’t sure she would have been able to read it even if she wasn’t virtually illiterate. Suddenly, Jade felt ashamed. Ashamed that she couldn’t overcome her own pride, her own self-pity to sit herself down and to do something useful, like John was doing. 

She was resourceful and clever – she would learn to read soon. Maybe when they visited Rose, she could ask her to help her with her writing. Rose could always write the best. 

And anyway, according to Karkat, school would be starting soon, and then they would all be plenty occupied. Until then, as Karkat had said, she had to work hard to learn to read and write, so that she would be prepared.

Leaning over to John, she asked him for some paper and pencil, and began to copy out the words on the page. 

\-------

When Rose was finally released from the hospital, she and the boys had begged Karkat to take them there so that they could see her back to the house, and were overjoyed as he sullenly agreed. 

Karkat was a tragically grumpy fellow, and always seemed to chastise her for every other thing she did, but he didn’t usually deny them their wishes, and for that Jade was very grateful. 

The four of them piled onto the public bus. It was a cold morning – a ‘Saturday’, as Jade recalled Karkat had said earlier that day – and the sun was still half hidden by the horizon, it’s pink rays leaking over the roofs of the houses of the neighbourhood. Jade was happy to say that she was finally used to the public transport of the town. After having had Karkat explain why there were no animals attached to any of the cars or buses, she had even ventured outside to observe them as they passed. Eventually, after a few days, their surprising speed no longer made her jump, and she could even board the bus acting as though she had been on buses her whole life! 

The bus lurched into movement and Jade lost her balance, falling face forward into Karkat’s back. 

Well maybe Jade was not that adept at using public transport. John and Dave were still very impressed though, and for that she was very pleased. 

They all sat together at the back, Dave looking wistfully out the window and her and John sitting with their hands clasped together. Karkat looked them over, once… twice. His gaze softened slightly, and his eyes glazed over, as if he were deep in thought. 

“What’s wrong Karkat?” John ventured gently.

Karkat looked at them again, and frowned slightly, “I can’t believe I haven’t noticed this… but have you guys been wearing the same clothes as when you arrived?” He gave them an incredulous look, as if he blamed them for their wardrobe choices.

Jade looked down at her own garb. Apart from her slightly tattered frock and cardigan, everything else was in perfect order – the appropriate wear for an ordinary baker’s girl. “What’s the matter? I think I look perfectly fine.” Jade said, a little affronted. 

Karkat looked even more offended than before, “Have you seen yourselves? Wait, no, don’t answer. Just compare your clothes with what everyone around you is wearing, and as you observe I hope to dear god that your senses return to you.” He said, and then as forethought added, “Also, it’s been almost a week and you haven’t changed. Ew.”

From Jade’s peripheral vision, she caught Dave roll his eyes and mutter, “The state of our current wardrobe is your responsibility not ours, since we clearly have no idea what we’re supposed to look like,” but he made no further move to contribute to the conversation. 

Karkat gave a deep sigh and replied, “Whatever. After we get Rose, we’re going shopping.” He looked almost disgusted by the word, though Jade had no idea why. 

“Wouldn’t Rose need time to recover? Surely she’s not fully healthy yet,” interjected John, clearly with other priorities than Karkat’s aversion to getting them properly clothed, “I really hope that she’s been ok…”

“She’s fine, I went to see her yesterday, and anyway, Terezi and Kanaya have been keeping her company,” Karkat explained, “And anyway, school starts again on Monday, and like hell am I coming into class with my very own troupe of Puritan hobos.” Saying this, he stood from his seat, and without making any gestures made to get off the bus. Jade hurried behind, eager to not be too slow and be trapped behind the magic closing doors like last time. 

They made their way into the giant white hospital – Jade was still impressed by how huge it was – and followed Karkat up the stairs (he obviously knew where he was going – Jade probably wouldn’t remember even if she lived here, she thought). Finally, they came to a familiar door. Jade was so excited to see Rose again. She didn’t think she had ever spent so long without seeing her best friend! She imagined it must have been harder for Dave – the sibling bond was strong in them, after all. 

Rose, to their surprise, was already out of the bed, and sitting on the edge, when they entered the room. In fact, she was no longer attached to any of the menacing looking tubes or machines – and she was very much breathing and healthy! Jade noticed that she was wearing her old clothes instead of the blue gown they had made her wear – this only made her notice how grimy and old they looked, and then she sort of understood why Karkat had been so concerned. 

Wardrobe notwithstanding, Rose was clean, stable looking, and best of all, she was smiling. The three of them rushed to help her to a standing position, but she quickly hopped off the bed, and tried to hug them at the same time in a haphazard manner. Though Rose was usually the epitome of calm, her smile was brimming like pure sunlight. 

“I feel… amazing,” she said, “I don’t know how, but they’ve fixed me.”

Jade didn’t care who ‘they’ were, but suddenly she was so very glad that they were in this place, however, weird this was. 

A knock at the door alerted them to Terezi peeking into the room. She was grinning happily as she entered, but it faltered a bit as she glanced at Karkat. She nodded ever so slightly at him, and he took this as his cue to leave. Her smile resumed however as she looked towards Rose, 

“Looking healthy there Rose-y,” she said, settling herself down on the bed. Jade noticed that she too was now rid of the blue gown, and wearing (what she guessed were) normal clothes. “Where’s Kanaya?”

Rose smiled softly at her and replied, “She didn’t come in this morning, deeming a visit this early too detrimental to her ‘beauty sleep’, as she likes to say. She has promised to visit us at Karkat’s home later today, however.”

It was fascinating to see just how well Rose was getting along with Terezi, and apparently Kanaya. Now she felt ashamedly better, for having left her here for a week – she was already making new friends. Jade hoped she would make many new friends here. Karkat had promised that there would be many new people to meet at school, and albeit very exasperatedly, he had also promised to personally introduce her to all of his friends. 

Said boy opened the door that very moment, and asked them all to ‘hurry up’ so they could get going to the ‘mall’. 

Mall… another word Jade didn’t understand. She tried to remember it anyway. 

\-------

The ‘mall’ as it turned out, was a terrifying place. Karkat and Terezi, who had also been released from the hospital, had correctly given them warning before they arrived. 

This time, Jade had remembered to grab hold of one of the bars on the bus to steady herself as it started moving. Instead, it was John who stumbled and had to reach for Jade’s arm so as to not fall over. Terezi giggled. 

She was always laughing at something. Though Jade thought it was a bit mean that Terezi was amused at other’s misfortunes, it was somehow really calming. The fact that Terezi laughed meant that it was ok for Jade to laugh, even if it was at John’s failing to ride the bus correctly. 

Terezi reached out and patted John’s arm, still giggling slightly as he grew red with a blush, “There, there,” she said, “Soon you’ll be wearing new clothes, and you’ll be cool. The coolest person, I promise.”

It was a joke; something that Jade knew Terezi wasn’t really promising. It was weird humour – but it had still clearly made John feel better. There was another thing Jade had to get used to; the humour. 

“But before you can be cool, there are some ground rules about the mall,” she continued, “I’m telling you this now, so you don’t freak out. From what I and dearest Rose have already discussed, I’m sure you guys are prepared for anything, but better safe than sorry,” she said, smiling, and a little too excited for what Jade believed was a safety speech.

“The mall is big, and full of lots of people, who all have places to be, and people to see. So… it’s very important,” Terezi enunciated those words carefully, “that we all stick close together. We don’t want anyone getting lost.”

They were all standing in the centre of the bus, and it lurched slightly, catching a few passengers off guard. Jade caught the bar with her other hand to stop herself from sliding into the doors. Karkat stood next to Terezi – he hadn’t moved an inch.

“Just in case you nitwits DO get lost, Terezi and I have decided that the meeting place will be the entrance. I repeat, if any of you without direction coordination decide to take a walk, you will go to the entrance of the mall, and wait for us there. Do not go anywhere, or I will have a heart attack,” Karkat said, very seriously, and added, a little more quietly, “I swear, I’m looking after fucking toddlers.”

So Jade felt that she was decently prepared to go to the mall, and was even quite excited. As the bus pulled up to the stop, she glanced outside and caught sight of the massive building that stretched on forever like the hospital. And yet, it wasn’t like the hospital. The hospital was white and formal, and it was clear that everyone inside was serious and ready for work. The giant mall was the opposite, with one large brick building, and glass structures at random locations – Jade even spotted what seemed like water being spurted out of a statue, surrounded by a courtyard of tables and benches. What’s more, people flowed in and out of the mall in crowds, some people walking much too quickly, and some people just stood still amongst the chaos. 

That’s what it was, Jade realised – it was chaos. This was what Terezi and Karkat had warned them about. Suddenly, she felt very scared about entering the mall – what if she got lost? Or was kidnapped? There were so many people, anything could happen! 

She played Karkat’s words about the meeting point over and over, making sure that she remembered, but the crowds at the entrance didn’t do much to quell her fear – what if she amalgamated into the mass of people and was never found again?

They started for the mall, Jade bravely picking up the pace. The outside noise was deafening, altogether too much – she couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe! Surrounded by people, who all seemed to tower above, and all with some unknown purpose, Jade was suffocating. They pushed on, further and further until they were almost at the giant glass doors. The crowds seemed to grow, becoming denser and less human. Jade could see the inside, she was almost there. She grabbed for someone, caught their hand, and clasped it tightly – John’s? 

Suddenly, they were inside, and everything changed. The air settled and became calm and the crowds all dispersed and Jade’s chest widened with the space their absence provided. 

The mall was terrifying. 

On the other hand, Jade now saw a huge collection of things she had never seen before, all within one place. 

Shops and eateries were inside? People were sitting at tables just in front of shops and eating food as if they were outside, but Jade wasn’t fooled – she saw the roof. How could all of this be so contained in one building?

Karkat didn’t seem at all impressed, and didn’t slow his pace, and Jade found herself having to catch up with them. She was still holding John’s hand, but didn’t let go. She looked over, and he too was astounded, standing agape and looking around. 

Eventually, they made their way around the mall and to several shops selling clothes. Terezi insisted that she personally take Rose and Jade shopping so their experience was more ‘individual’. She waved goodbye to the boys and was dragged into a store, strangely entitled “H&M”. 

\-------

“The mall experience is never complete without FroYo!” Terezi chirped gleefully. The three girls walked out of ‘Topshop’, now laden with paper bags full of clothes. Eventually, Jade and Rose had had to insist that spending too much money on clothes was not necessary, and that with permission, they would happily borrow from their new friends. Terezi’s smile had never faltered. 

Now she was exclaiming about this ‘froyo’, but noticing the blank looks, she elaborated, “Frozen Yoghurt! You guys will love it! I already sent a text to Karkitty about it,” she pointed to the rectangular device in her hand, “I think he enjoys shopping more than he admits. Or maybe he just likes the power of dressing the boys how he wants!” She laughed heartily. 

Rose looked thoughtful for a second, “I understand that integrating into society requires a great deal of sacrificing what one may secretly enjoy. Especially where Jade and I used to live, for a man to be involved with frivolous or feminine activities was particularly frowned upon.”

At Terezi’s questioning silence, she continued, “I assume from your comments that the rules of society still apply to this day?” 

Jade had not even thought about it. She had simply assumed that the culture and society of the country had not changed in the time that they were gone, but now that Rose was mentioning it, new questions were suddenly exposing themselves. 

Worriedly she added, “Oh my goodness I had never even… and Terezi I thought wearing trousers was adequate but is it because you’re an outcast? Is being a woman really bad in this time? Please tell me I’m still allowed to have a garden… or to choose my own husband!”

Terezi did not respond, but instead stopped in her path and was silent for a few moments. Then, to Jade’s surprise, she began to laugh. 

“I’m not entirely certain as to what you find amusing,” Rose said, and Jade could almost hear a little frustration in her tone, “But would you care to explain?”

The laughter died down until Terezi was only chuckling a little, but she turned to Jade, “Your priorities are what’s amusing,” she calmed down a little, “You can do whatever the fuck you want girlie. You can have a garden, choose a husband, whatever… You can choose not to have a husband and have two gardens.” She looked wistfully into the distance, “Two husbands and two gardens,” she said, and smiled as if she had discovered her one and true ambition in life.

She looked at Rose, “And listen here, Rose dear, I understand what you’re asking about Karkat, and I see where you’re coming from, but the situation’s a bit different you could say. It isn’t specifically frowned upon for men to do stuff like shopping, but society has formed… other methods of enforcing certain gender stereotypes on the populace.” 

Terezi put the phone in her pocket and started walking again, “But the development of society between your time and ours can’t be explained with a few ambiguous statements. It’s a discussion for later, ‘kay Rose-y?”

Rose, who seemed adequately satisfied, only gave a curt nod, and sped up to match Terezi’s pace. 

\-------

By the time they arrived at Karkat’s house, it was already past noon and everyone was thoroughly tired. After trying the infamous ‘FroYo’ that Terezi kept clamouring about, Jade had been simultaneously delighted by the taste, and traitorously hurt by how cold it was. They ended up walking a little longer around the mall to see if they needed anything else. 

Rose had mentioned that they could easily get by with borrowing any necessary items, but Terezi had nonetheless dragged them into her favourite stationary store, maybe just to show off ‘all the rad stuff!’ It was indeed ‘rad’, and Jade was especially enthralled by the ‘gel pens’ – Terezi had claimed they were for children, but Jade noticed her longing glance at section of ‘smelly gel pens’, whatever they were. (Surely no one wanted pens that smelled bad? Who knew?) 

It was only as they were walking down the staircase that Jade saw Terezi’s hands shaking. Suddenly, she stopped, and slowly placed the bags on the steps. The people behind them continued down the steps, having to squeeze between the three girls. 

Jade, worried, held Terezi’s arm to steady her. She wasn’t smiling. 

Her hand rose ever so slowly, and grasped at the red glasses that she constantly wore, and took them off. 

Red stared back at Jade. She couldn’t look away. Terezi’s eyes were so close, but hauntingly distant – somewhere light-years away. 

“I-“ she began to say. 

“What is it Terezi?” Rose said, concern in her voice. 

“I just…” she said, but didn’t finish. Instead, she picked up the bags and hurried down to the bottom of the stairs, Jade and Rose barely following. 

She made it halfway across the hall before she stopped again, and finally explained, “I had a vision.”

Jade froze. The mutant powers. They had been told explicitly by Karkat to be careful when using them and talking about them in front of people they didn’t know. Maybe this was one thing that society didn’t allow, even four hundred years into the future. 

Rose did not seem deterred, “About what, dear?” 

(When did she have time to sound so powerful but so motherly simultaneously?) 

“It wasn’t really about anything… I just saw Ms L, she’s a teacher at our school, inside this huge lab, and there were loads of us there,” but then she straightened up, “Don’t worry about it, I was just disoriented, that’s all,” and she was suddenly all right again. Though Jade did hear her mutter a few times about this strange ‘Ms L’. 

They did eventually catch up with the boys, who had clearly been on their own adventure – Dave was wearing a pair of mysterious glasses and he kept mumbling to John about them, obviously extremely pleased with the new purchase. 

They arrived home tired, happy, and some, confused. 

“Two more days until school,” Terezi said, smiling. 

Jade then remembered the book she had left open by her mattress in Karkat’s room, and rushed to put away her new things, and resume her study – she could finally ask Rose for some help, she remembered. As it turned out, Jade discovered that she was actually… really excited for school!

And she had learned an important new word today: 

“mall”


End file.
